cold water tank replacement

Feb 17, 2006 5 Replies

having looked inside mine i was left in no doubt i needed a new one but the leak was enough anyway so i have a plastic replacement tank a float and valve a tank inlet connector questions i am asking are does the connector i will fit in bottom of tank need washers (cos none came with it) ? will inlet connection need any extra support (cos tank is plastic now and old one is metal) ? any advice very much welcome guys hoping to fit new tank sunday


I've only ever seen them with washers. Certainly the three or four I've fitted have come with a big thick rubber washer that fits on the inside of the tank. (They were Speedfit plastic system - brass may be different but I can't see how you'd get a seal without a washer of some sort)

The walls of my Screwfix plastic tank are pretty thin and bendy. It was most convenient for me to fit the inlet pipe vertically, with little load on the tank wall. If it's anything like mine, I wouldn't rely on the tank providing any support to the pipework at all really.

If the holes aren't already cut, it's worth either getting a special cutter of exactly the right size, or drilling a smaller hole and filing very carefully until you get to the right size. Also worth cutting and deburring the hole before you take the tank up into the loft and mount it in position. tried to bodge mine with a lightly too large flat bit that left huge burrs on the inside of the tank. Then spent ages trying to get it leakproof!

Regards, Jon.

thanks for the info will return to b nq 2 moro and get a rubber washer and a hole cutter may as well bite the bullet and spend more its still cheaper than getting a plumber in

Don't be tempted to buy the sets of hole cutters with thin concentric blades

Typically they don't cut round holes because the blades bend and they nurge up the plastic.

Go for a saw like Screwfix 17022 with arbor (in the correct size of course.

B&Q have these either as sets or as individual cutters.

To comply with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, you should also have a lid, adequate insulation, a warning pipe (overflow) fitting with an insect screen, a lid air vent, also with an insect screen, and, if you have a vent (expansion) pipe from your hot water supply, a close-fitting insect-proof adaptor where that goes through the lid.

he connector i will fit in bottom of tank need washers (cos none came

There should be at least one soft rubber-like washer. Some come with two.

No idea without looking at the installation.

Colin Bignell

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